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4/5 rDev +0.8%look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From BeerAdvocate Magazine Volume II, Issue II:

Here we have a great example of originality in American craft brewing. Put a donkey on the label and say that it is somewhere between a Stout and Porter, and it is a Strong Ale as well. Odd label, not an exact style, we love the concept. Dense tiny bubbly brown lace forms off of a hard pour. Is there anything darker than black because this is one sooty beer. Aromatic with molasses, dark chocolate, dark roasted ice coffee, black currants and a mild ester alcohol. Super smooth with a feigned semi-syrupy body, light on the carbonation. Charred wood, molasses and intense dark cocoa flavors lock down the taste buds for a good while. Some sweetness breaks out in the middle with a juicy nugget of burnt black berries. Hops are mild with a slightly balancing bitterness and vague herbal flavor. Ends with a bitter burnt flavor that never seems to go over the top.

The darker the better and one hell of a kick to the taste buds. Big, bold, complex and in-your-face. No need to debate on whether it is a Stout or Porter or even a double of the style, its good drinking. Enough said.

A supreme stout. Exceeding the lineup of Rogues. Looks like yummy chocolate drink. Stout roasted, with chocolate aroma. Creamy mouthfeel with roast. More so than coffee, which works for me. Enough of a drink experience, that you don't know the alcohol until..klunk. Glad I bought a six-pack. Dry mouth aftertaste.

A: The beer is absolutely jet black in color. It poured with a quarter finger high dense tan head that gradually died down, leaving a large patch of bubbles in the center of the glass and a collar around the edge.
S: There are moderate aromas of coffee beans and roasted malts in the nose.
T: The taste is similar to the smell, but is much stronger and also has some hints of smoke and chocolate along with a light amount of coffee bitterness in the finish.
M: It feels medium- to full-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation. The roasted malts leave a bit of dryness in the finish.
O: I enjoyed drinking this beer because it delivered a lot of flavors of coffee beans and roasted malts without the heavier body of a Russian Imperial Stout. Any traces of alcohol are very well hidden from the taste. There is also a good balance between the malts and hops.

not what I was hoping for taste of chocolate melted on a chared oak plank
And im drinking the ashes taste lingers in mouth for long time mine had a date of 2/17/14 almost year old ? I poured out it was so bad

Pours an opaque black with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to an oily film on top of the beer. Tiny dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, cocoa, and coffee. Taste is much the same with a medium amount of roasty bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that is tasty but pretty roasty.

On tap at Ashley's in Ann Arbor,poured a near jet black but there was a noticable crimson hue when held up to the light a thinner quick to faid almond colored head atop.Aromas were roasted and sweet with notes of molasses and French Roast coffee and bitter chocolate no hop presence to this one.Big and sweet up front with some molasses and dark fruit notes very roasty with just a hint of earth in the finish wich doesnt dry it out much.Its a big hearty beer sweet and it packs a punch

Appearance  The body is, yes, black, with a very dark tan head that was gorgeous and enchanting. It came up wonderfully, left some nice lacing, and never did go all the way down. I can even see some foam at the BOTTOM of my glass.

Update on Appearance: No, wait, thats darkly tanned sediment at the bottom of my glass. Now it gets a 5.

Smell  Big, burnt malts and milk chocolate lead the way here. The sugars are of the refined cocoa variety. I can also pick up some coffee grounds. Nice.

Taste  Boy, is this bitter. The sweet chocolate from the nose steps back a bit, which is good because I enjoy smelling these flavors in a stout a little more than tasting them. I am now licking coffee grounds out of my golden cone filter.

Mouthfeel  Full-bodied and bitterly dry. This is probably the driest Imperial Stout that Ive had to date. You almost need to chase this with a pale lager or something.

Drinkability  This is for true stout lovers only. If you want over-the-top burnt coffee ground madness, this is for you.

Comments  A big thanks to garthwaite for sending me this offering from Dark Horse.

Rich malt aroma and american hops with some carmel and coffee aromas. There is a light alcohol hint in there but overall the aroma is subtle.

The flavor has a one two punch of strong hops bitternes and medium dark grain bitterness. There is a little bit of malt sweetness for support and moderate citrus hops flavor in the middle before a dry finish with a long hop flavor and bitterness in the aftertaste.

medium heavy body with low carbonation and a very slight astringency that seems grain derived. A slight alcohol warming.

Nice ass on the label of this one! Pours from the bottle a super dark midnight black with an impressive two fingers of frothy tan foam on top. Nice sticky lacing with no light daring to escape. Aromas of dark, roasty burnt malts with powdered cocoa accents and a hint of coffee. Some dark fruits (black currants) float in and out along with a slight note of cream. Quite nice.

First sip brings a wall of rich, roasted, toasty slightly burnt malt flavors melded with lots of powered cocoa and good helping of bitter instant coffee. Dark fruits show up again in the flavor with a touch of smokiness. Finishes with a brash residual bitterness and a touch of green, herbal hops on the way down. A bit astringent on the palate and overall a very enjoyable double stout.

Mouthfeel is big with a nice creaminess and ample carbonation. The carbonation helps cut through this one making it more drinkable. This is a tasty stout that I wouldn't mind having around. Goes down quite easily and I would love to have a few on a cold night. Dark Horse continues to impress. Thanks to Cornboy for the opportunity.

Really robust flavor. Dark toasted malts run around unchecked, char and black coffee again. Smoke again. Very similar to the smell.

Mouthfeel is medium to full. Carbonation is low. Its hard to say this is fully b/c it isn't quite creamy, but it is slick. Flavor sticks around and lingers.

This is pretty damn drinkable to have this strong of a flavor, but I like my stouts like this and not overloaded with sweet flavors. Overall its very simple with dark toasted flavors, but just good. Good stuff...a must try.

Smooth, rich, solid medium-bodied and extremely robust. Astringency is dominant and assertive. Flavours of dark ripe fruits, wood, earth, sherry, nuts, black-strap molasses and a twang blends with a limey citrus hop character (what one might find in a Schwarzbier). Notes of aging (oxidation) are also present within the wood and wet paper flavours. Finish dry with lingering lime and molasses flavours.

Quite the brew ... would have sat better with me if the brew hadn't shown so many signs of oxidation, and without a freshness stamp there's no real way of telling how old my sample is. Still, very worthy of a try ...

No dating.
WOW! This is sooo not what I was expecting at all! I had no idea what I was in for. This one poured out like an imperial stout. Pitch brown with a thick caramelly creamy brown head that reduced quickly to a bit of a dusting and a thick ring. Huge aroma. Total shocker here too. Scents of lambic, rich imperial stout, alcohol, with tons of hoppiness. Merlot, chocolate, coffee, deep and roasty. Smooth and slightly creamy with a bitey carbination that snaps at you towards the end of the sip. Nice toasty dark hoppiness with a good bite. Blackened toast, dark bittersweet chocolate and espresso. This is damn luscious. Great flavors and feel. Nice one!

I bought this beer at the Brass Rail in Cambelltown a couple months ago then left it on the workbench in the garage. I spied it yesterday and thought it was time to check it out before it turned into a pumpkin. Well, it's a very nice beer and not so much a load that one couldn't drink it in the summer (84 degrees today). Like noted below, the frothy head quickly skittered away but laced the glass (16oz tumbler) as it went down. The Black Bier is very dark and opaque but looks very nice in the glass. Big malts on the nose toasty but not sweet.
Very smooth with a nice balance and a lingering finish. Initially, incredibly drinkable; hard to believe it's 7.5. (I think I better slow down!) The garage storage doesn't seem to have affected anything.
Not sweet at all, sort of like a Schwarzbier on steroids. I wasn't expecting a sweet beer and can see how this classifies as a "black ale". I think the hops are in the background keeping a nice tang in the finish. All in all, very nice.
Big

Didn't know what to expect from this one. Initially thought it would be a schwartzbier. Pours an almost black body with a small cocoa head that has some garnet hues. Some nice sheet lacing. Looks like a stout. Aroma of burnt dark malt, chocolate, and red apples. Medium body has a subdued carbonation. Taste has a biter bite from both hops and dark roasted malts. A red apple fruitiness softens the edges quite a bit. A very interesting brew here. More like a stout than anything else.

Thanks to Eyedrinkale for this one...
Pours a thick dead black color with no light passing thru...a half a finger of cocoa-colored head with a gentle pour. Most of the head disappears rapidly with very little lacing.
An excellent aroma filled with chocolate colored cherries, cocoa powder, a vinous character and just a hint of smoke.
The taste is fabulous and just what I was expecting from the nose...less a hint of sweetness that I am glad to see.
A nice hop profile to bitter it up ever so gently and the smokiness really drys up the finish.
Mouthfeel is a bit thinner after seeing this one pour out, but it is by no means thin...fits right into a double stout IMO.
Carbonation is spot on and the drinkability is thru the roof if you remotely enjoy porters/stouts.
Another winner from Dark Horse...I am quite jealous I cannot obtain more of this gem...trade anyone?

Drinkability: A very drinkable strong ale that hides the abv well. It tastes like a slightly more complex schwarzbier. I could have a couple of these to sip, but am not likely to go out of my way and order this.